Giled Pallaeon
@giledpallaeon.bsky.social
Military & International Affairs nerd. Defense professional. Mostly naval subjects, but all aspects of defense and natsec welcome. Oh, & plastic spaceships, that too. All opinions on all subjects my own #WeAreNAFO
Pinned
Giled Pallaeon
@giledpallaeon.bsky.social
· May 15
Previous type entries have made note of the appropriate deployment of a particular type, with special regard to campaign operations. Star Destroyer as defined here overrides those generalized parameters. It is the assessment of [Redacted] to append the designation “Star Destroyer”…
Reposting so I can pin this. Below is part of a thread I wrote including my Watsonian redefinition of the term “Star Destroyer”
Reposted by Giled Pallaeon
sharepoint answers the question of “what if google drive hung every time you changed a font”
November 10, 2025 at 7:42 PM
sharepoint answers the question of “what if google drive hung every time you changed a font”
Reposted by Giled Pallaeon
For those unfamiliar with probably the best airport from a functional perspective in the country, Hartsfield has five runways. That’s a plane per runway every ten minutes, instead of the usual 2.5.
Waiting for a very delayed flight to Atlanta & the pilot (Scott!) has become everyone's best friend, hanging out amongst the people. He's let us know that Atlanta is only allowing 30 flights an hour, when it's usually 120.
Obviously frustrating but also enjoying how much Scott is relishing this.
Obviously frustrating but also enjoying how much Scott is relishing this.
November 9, 2025 at 4:42 AM
For those unfamiliar with probably the best airport from a functional perspective in the country, Hartsfield has five runways. That’s a plane per runway every ten minutes, instead of the usual 2.5.
If I may pivot off this, this does bring one to the areas of advantage a carrier does have. First and foremost, a carrier can provide elevated sensing. The curvature of the Earth is a problem for all sensors, but the gap in sensing between a surface ship and aircraft is of category difference.
Today, the better capability for long-range strike is any ship with a Vertical Launch System (VLS). They can launch different types of missiles and missiles are just better at long-range strike than the manned aircraft that a carrier can handle (land-based bombers are a totally different story).
November 8, 2025 at 6:44 PM
If I may pivot off this, this does bring one to the areas of advantage a carrier does have. First and foremost, a carrier can provide elevated sensing. The curvature of the Earth is a problem for all sensors, but the gap in sensing between a surface ship and aircraft is of category difference.
What does it take to convince you that:
A. American hegemony is good for you/America
and
B. “Be[ing] the world’s mom and dad”is good for American hegemony.
There’s also a wave of ethical arguments but cold assessments of American cost benefit still favor this overwhelmingly.
A. American hegemony is good for you/America
and
B. “Be[ing] the world’s mom and dad”is good for American hegemony.
There’s also a wave of ethical arguments but cold assessments of American cost benefit still favor this overwhelmingly.
I dunno. I do like our government spending less money anywhere they can. I like even more if my taxes go down as a result. Since when is our job to be the world’s mom and dad? Did other countries step up to fill that gap?
November 7, 2025 at 2:50 PM
What does it take to convince you that:
A. American hegemony is good for you/America
and
B. “Be[ing] the world’s mom and dad”is good for American hegemony.
There’s also a wave of ethical arguments but cold assessments of American cost benefit still favor this overwhelmingly.
A. American hegemony is good for you/America
and
B. “Be[ing] the world’s mom and dad”is good for American hegemony.
There’s also a wave of ethical arguments but cold assessments of American cost benefit still favor this overwhelmingly.
Reposted by Giled Pallaeon
It also seems to me to be suicide for fear of death. What exactly do we fear from China that’s worse than command-economy-ing ourselves into manufacturing and out of all the industries we’re world leaders in?
Friendshoring makes sense. Fantasies of autarky are just that.
Friendshoring makes sense. Fantasies of autarky are just that.
November 6, 2025 at 10:11 PM
It also seems to me to be suicide for fear of death. What exactly do we fear from China that’s worse than command-economy-ing ourselves into manufacturing and out of all the industries we’re world leaders in?
Friendshoring makes sense. Fantasies of autarky are just that.
Friendshoring makes sense. Fantasies of autarky are just that.
As an engineering project, I’m quite curious how Lego got the saucer and the upper secondary hull built, especially with the ability to separate off what looks like one small button in the video. Larger Star Wars UCS models have been using technic as the skeleton and “hanging” the skin off that.
DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD ☝️
The Lego Icons Star Trek: The Next Generation USS Enterprise-D ($400, 3,600 pieces) will be available on November 28.
The Lego Icons Star Trek: The Next Generation USS Enterprise-D ($400, 3,600 pieces) will be available on November 28.
November 6, 2025 at 3:00 PM
As an engineering project, I’m quite curious how Lego got the saucer and the upper secondary hull built, especially with the ability to separate off what looks like one small button in the video. Larger Star Wars UCS models have been using technic as the skeleton and “hanging” the skin off that.
(Surprising no one) I have thoughts on this, but first and foremost is that the American public wants what classes as a moral good of building things but absolutely don’t actually do that. We also want the wealth and easy work lives of our service economy. And we seem to want that more.
We can’t feed McKinsey to people or build a data center with shares in Meta, much as “We are a service economy” sounds good.
November 6, 2025 at 2:22 AM
(Surprising no one) I have thoughts on this, but first and foremost is that the American public wants what classes as a moral good of building things but absolutely don’t actually do that. We also want the wealth and easy work lives of our service economy. And we seem to want that more.
Fun fact, this movie is about the same period in history that ended up (indirectly) causing:
1. Teddy Roosevelt’s Peace Prize
2. The fall of the Russian Empire and the rise of the USSR
and its own cause is inextricably linked to the Emancipation Proclamation.
1. Teddy Roosevelt’s Peace Prize
2. The fall of the Russian Empire and the rise of the USSR
and its own cause is inextricably linked to the Emancipation Proclamation.
It’s hard to believe but there was a cartoon about an immigrant mouse and it was seen as totally fine and not controversial and not woke because it was an aspirational and nice thing about America that people could come here and find a better life
November 5, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Fun fact, this movie is about the same period in history that ended up (indirectly) causing:
1. Teddy Roosevelt’s Peace Prize
2. The fall of the Russian Empire and the rise of the USSR
and its own cause is inextricably linked to the Emancipation Proclamation.
1. Teddy Roosevelt’s Peace Prize
2. The fall of the Russian Empire and the rise of the USSR
and its own cause is inextricably linked to the Emancipation Proclamation.
As usual, SecDef Rock not only can’t miss but has broad critiques layered into the razor sharp way the bullshit is sliced apart.
November 5, 2025 at 10:43 PM
As usual, SecDef Rock not only can’t miss but has broad critiques layered into the razor sharp way the bullshit is sliced apart.
I’m not the only one jumping on this, but sweet baby Jesus in the manger what the actual fuck is a non-militarized security framework?
I’m serious, how do you plan to deter an invasion without hard power? Leaflets? Sanctions by a government-suddenly-in-exile? Protests?
I’m serious, how do you plan to deter an invasion without hard power? Leaflets? Sanctions by a government-suddenly-in-exile? Protests?
The Green Party condemns Russia’s invasion, backs Ukraine’s sovereignty, and urges peace talks. It opposes NATO expansion and supports replacing NATO with a cooperative, non-militarised European security framework 💚
November 3, 2025 at 4:07 PM
I’m not the only one jumping on this, but sweet baby Jesus in the manger what the actual fuck is a non-militarized security framework?
I’m serious, how do you plan to deter an invasion without hard power? Leaflets? Sanctions by a government-suddenly-in-exile? Protests?
I’m serious, how do you plan to deter an invasion without hard power? Leaflets? Sanctions by a government-suddenly-in-exile? Protests?
This. As others have called it, it’s an O-3 mindset in a job above O-10
The beef I have with all this stuff from Heggy is that I do not need the SecDdef bolstering fitness standards. The US has a bunch of NCOs and officers capable of that. I need the SecDef to get us more B-21s and unfuck shipbuilding and make the army pick a goddamn identity and stick with it. 2/2
November 2, 2025 at 9:36 PM
This. As others have called it, it’s an O-3 mindset in a job above O-10
Reposted by Giled Pallaeon
No, NO
All of their decisions in the movie suck and are bad!!! They talk themselves into striking before a single ICBM of unknown origin even hits!!!
All of their decisions in the movie suck and are bad!!! They talk themselves into striking before a single ICBM of unknown origin even hits!!!
November 2, 2025 at 12:38 AM
No, NO
All of their decisions in the movie suck and are bad!!! They talk themselves into striking before a single ICBM of unknown origin even hits!!!
All of their decisions in the movie suck and are bad!!! They talk themselves into striking before a single ICBM of unknown origin even hits!!!
Your regularly scheduled reminder of one of the pioneering groups of what is now called operations research was a group of teen and twenty something women led by a gamer too ill for sea duty trying to do their part to defend their island home.
This here is one of the great U-boat hunters of the Second World War.
Grab a comfy seat and a glass of something pleasing. We're going on a journey...
Grab a comfy seat and a glass of something pleasing. We're going on a journey...
November 1, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Your regularly scheduled reminder of one of the pioneering groups of what is now called operations research was a group of teen and twenty something women led by a gamer too ill for sea duty trying to do their part to defend their island home.
For the gazillionth time, this. They’re right *on average*. That’s not the same thing as either right or smart.
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
October 27, 2025 at 10:24 PM
For the gazillionth time, this. They’re right *on average*. That’s not the same thing as either right or smart.
Yeah I reread this this morning hoping to find some sense, and it got worse. This launch platform is being towed by a HEMTT, a *ten ton truck*. You can’t drive that over huge fractions of the theater, and it sticks out everywhere it can go. This is insane. www.twz.com/wp-content/u...
October 23, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Yeah I reread this this morning hoping to find some sense, and it got worse. This launch platform is being towed by a HEMTT, a *ten ton truck*. You can’t drive that over huge fractions of the theater, and it sticks out everywhere it can go. This is insane. www.twz.com/wp-content/u...
So as a moving out present to myself, I got the Sembo J-50 kit and the Sluban J-36 kit. Banged out the J-50 tonight, the following is my assessment. Short version, solid kit, worthy of consideration if it’s your kind of thing.
October 22, 2025 at 2:30 AM
So as a moving out present to myself, I got the Sembo J-50 kit and the Sluban J-36 kit. Banged out the J-50 tonight, the following is my assessment. Short version, solid kit, worthy of consideration if it’s your kind of thing.
I am once again calling for a Democrat presidential inaugural address on January 20, 2029, demanding the immediate surrender of Bukele’s government for international prosecution, the return of *all American citizens and lawful residents*, and preparations for immediate independent elections.
This is just straight-up treason by rubio, he's wrecking our ability to fight organized crime in order to help bukele cover up his apparently cozy relationship with MS-13 leadership and possible theft of us foreign aid, all so trump et al can get photos of us sending hairdressers to torture prison
This story is extraordinary even by 2025 standards. Marco Rubio, the nation's top diplomat, made a deal with Bukele and agreed to renege on informant agreements in a years-long DOJ investigation into MS-13, totally undercutting credibility of such agreements.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
October 19, 2025 at 6:22 PM
I am once again calling for a Democrat presidential inaugural address on January 20, 2029, demanding the immediate surrender of Bukele’s government for international prosecution, the return of *all American citizens and lawful residents*, and preparations for immediate independent elections.
Reposted by Giled Pallaeon
Tired: the cia is an agent of covert regime change abroad and that’s bad
Wired: the cia is an agent of covert regime change abroad and that’s not only good but essential to democracy
Wired: the cia is an agent of covert regime change abroad and that’s not only good but essential to democracy
we have to be willing to just fuck with foreign governments in order to promote pro-democracy forces and harm pro-authoritarian forces in those countries
*that's* our actual interest, not whatever faff natsec heads preach about "the rules based order"
*that's* our actual interest, not whatever faff natsec heads preach about "the rules based order"
October 14, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Tired: the cia is an agent of covert regime change abroad and that’s bad
Wired: the cia is an agent of covert regime change abroad and that’s not only good but essential to democracy
Wired: the cia is an agent of covert regime change abroad and that’s not only good but essential to democracy
Given the gross inaccuracies in the film, I’m really struggling with this recommendation. Nuclear war is bad; so are ill-informed public’s that will choose and pressure leaders into bad choices and worse outcomes based on poor education.
I was able to see an early screening of "A House of Dynamite." Americans need to see this movie and remember why nuclear attack is vastly more terrifying than any other threat to our existence.
www.netflix.com/title/81744537
www.netflix.com/title/81744537
Watch A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE | Netflix Official Site
When a single, unattributed missile is launched at the United States, a race begins to determine who is responsible and how to respond.
www.netflix.com
October 12, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Given the gross inaccuracies in the film, I’m really struggling with this recommendation. Nuclear war is bad; so are ill-informed public’s that will choose and pressure leaders into bad choices and worse outcomes based on poor education.
Is reminding you that the Battle of Moscow was ongoing when we joined the war enough for you or do I need to attach a map of where that is too?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_...
October 11, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Is reminding you that the Battle of Moscow was ongoing when we joined the war enough for you or do I need to attach a map of where that is too?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_...
I’m glad it’s well-made enough people who don’t understand the subject matter will miss why it’s completely horseshit.
Wait…
Wait…
A single nuclear warhead, of unknown origin, is heading toward the U.S. mainland in Kathryn Bigelow's new Netflix film. It's an unnerving scenario — but it's also thrilling to watch. n.pr/48przga
Every moment pops in the nuclear thriller 'A House of Dynamite'
A single nuclear warhead, of unknown origin, is heading toward the U.S. mainland in Kathryn Bigelow's new Netflix film. It's an unnerving scenario — but it's also thrilling to watch.
n.pr
October 11, 2025 at 12:45 AM
I’m glad it’s well-made enough people who don’t understand the subject matter will miss why it’s completely horseshit.
Wait…
Wait…
I’m getting tired of saying this, so I’m going to say it one more time, *slowly*.
If in a INDOPACOM fight swarming UAS are the greatest threat to the US Navy, we have already won the war.
If we are close enough to the target that kill chain can be closed, we’ve already won.
If in a INDOPACOM fight swarming UAS are the greatest threat to the US Navy, we have already won the war.
If we are close enough to the target that kill chain can be closed, we’ve already won.
October 10, 2025 at 1:12 AM
I’m getting tired of saying this, so I’m going to say it one more time, *slowly*.
If in a INDOPACOM fight swarming UAS are the greatest threat to the US Navy, we have already won the war.
If we are close enough to the target that kill chain can be closed, we’ve already won.
If in a INDOPACOM fight swarming UAS are the greatest threat to the US Navy, we have already won the war.
If we are close enough to the target that kill chain can be closed, we’ve already won.
We’ve been over this repeatedly. No. It’s a bad idea. We can’t base close safely, so you’re basically *starting* with the differences on this map. And some IPC transits will be longer.
October 9, 2025 at 11:07 PM
We’ve been over this repeatedly. No. It’s a bad idea. We can’t base close safely, so you’re basically *starting* with the differences on this map. And some IPC transits will be longer.
Reposted by Giled Pallaeon
Oregon National Guard Adjutant General, General Gronewold says if they are federalized, that he will advise the Title 10 commander to utilize National Guard Troops to PROTECT protesters at ICE facilities. This is the right answer.
October 7, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Oregon National Guard Adjutant General, General Gronewold says if they are federalized, that he will advise the Title 10 commander to utilize National Guard Troops to PROTECT protesters at ICE facilities. This is the right answer.